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126 INSITE AUTUMN 2011
ISSUE rock art
VIEWPOINT |
THE ENTHUSIASTIC AMATEUR
For some, new passions can spring up at
unexpected moments – and for the inaugural
chair of UWA’s Centre for Rock-Art Studies,
John Rothwell (also the non-executive
chairman of shipbuilding company Austal),
passion well and truly took hold while
on the deck of his own boat off the coast
of the Kimberley.
“I had an awareness of rock art,
particularly the so-called Bradshaw art
(or gwion-gwion), and witnessed it for myself
during shore excursions,” he says.
On a later trip, two years ago, he again
saw some magnificent examples, “but it
struck me as very sad that the Australian
public was largely unaware of this wonderful
form of art”, he says.
“It then occurred to me that on top of
this, we know very little about its age, who
painted it and many other factors. I had
recently visited Egypt and toured the sites
there, which are 5000 years old, knowing
that some of our own, home-grown rock
art is easily older than that, yet does not
generate the same world interest. For
somebody like me who enjoys history,
I wanted to spread the message about our
own amazing art – it’s a treasure.”
After returning to Perth, he pondered
how best to put the rock art on the world
map. Meanwhile, he was contacted by the
Melbourne-based Kimberley Foundation
Australia (KFA), which championed the
work of the late, controversial archaeologist
Grahame Walsh. He dedicated his life to
cataloguing as many of the Bradshaws in the
K imberley as possible, with little funding and
a growing body of critics who questioned his
theory that perhaps they were created by a
separate foreign group of artists.
This theory essentially implied that there
was another mystery race living in Australia,
apart from the Aboriginal people, an idea
that provoked fury from indigenous groups
and, increasingly, some distain from his
academic colleagues.
“We really need to credit Grahame for
bringing rock art to Australia’s attention,
but when the KFA asked me to join them,
I considered all this and thought on balance
I’d rather be involved with a group in
Western Australia. I thought, too, that
it would be better for ongoing research
to be driven by an academic institution,
like UWA,” John says.
John had ‘a few lunches’ with UWA’s
Professor Jane Balme, who came up with
the idea of creating a centre dedicated to the
study of rock art at UWA. “She helped me
find out what work had already been done,
research-wise, and I suggested ways to get
more public focus on the work,” he says.
“It’s taken a couple of years to get us to
the point of the centre opening, but as the
inaugural chair, I’m hopeful we’ll shortly be
making real progress. My knowledge of rock
art may be little, but my enthusiasm is large.”
John says while the subject is ‘reasonably
delicate’ thanks to most of the sites being
under the guardianship of indigenous
caretakers, he believes there have been
sufficiently positive attitudes from
indigenous people he’s had contact with to
feel encouraged for the future of the work.
He’s hopeful of generating public
awareness and, in turn, public support.
“Of course, industrial development
will occur in the Kimberley and the
Pilbara–itmustgoon–butitmustbe
done in a sensible fashion,” he says. “There
are literally thousands and thousands of
galleries of rock art. The centre will help
identify a number of key sites, which are
accessible to the public and tourists by road
or by boat. We’ve got to allow people to see
them if we’re informing the world at large
about the treasures in our backyard.
“At the same time, research will
continue. We’re fortunate at the moment
that the majority of sites are located in
such a remote region that few people can
reach them. That won’t be the case forever,
however – we need to be thinking about
how these sites will be seen a thousand
years from now.”
John’s commitment is tempered by more
than 30 years of commercial acumen. Unlike
the archaeological academics who perhaps
are focused on preserving each example at all
costs, he takes a more pragmatic approach.
“The excitement I have for rock art makes
me want to share this precious artform
with everybody. It belongs to Australia, to
all Australians. At the moment, our own
country isn’t much aware of it, let alone the
rest of the world. We need to make sure we
can show it off, properly and respectf ully.
“Let’s choose a few sites that will be
properly signed and controlled, then
expand the program. It’s time to introduce
Australia’s rock art to the world.”
VIEWPOINT | THE INDUSTRY
Ken Mulvaney, head of mining company
Rio Tinto’s Specialist Cultural Heritage
division, knows the Burrup Peninsula
(far top right) like most of us know our
backyards. The largest open-air repository
of rock art in the world, it’s also home to
intense industrial activity, current and
planned. The Burrup and islands of the
Dampier Archipelago contain engravings
and ancient ceremonial sites that provide
a window into a world that existed over
many hundreds of generations. It’s Ken’s job
to ensure activity around such sites on Rio
Tinto leases is carried out in a sensitive way.
“Rio has sought to continue its commercial
activities, taking into account the national
heritage values of the place,” Ken says. For
Ken Mulvaney makes records at a rock art site.